Dammit. It didn't post my entire comment. Anyway, I'll rephrase it.
If you're thinking about living in provincial Thailand, then you're definitely going to have to learn to speak some Thai. In BKK you can get by without knowing a single word, but here you have to adapt. A lot of the educated younger generation can speak at least some English but are usually too shy to try, so a few words in Thai go a long way to break the ice. I've had two lays where I've spoken more Thai than she did English. It's not super hard to learn basic communication points but if you want to be really good at it, then you're going to have to develop an ear for the tones. I'm still struggling with that.
If you want to avoid getting ripped off left and right at bars and restaurants, you have to learn to read too (this is basic traveller's knowledge). It took me about 3 months to get to the point where I could read pretty much anything but I'm a visual learner so I tend to pick up new scripts pretty fast. Even now, after they've just witnessed me order from a Thai-only menu, the bill will sometimes come back with another 30 or 40 baht tacked on. I don't know if they can't get it through their heads that I can read or if they just think the rich foreigner's going to just hand them money without looking at the bill. It's not about the $1 extra or so, it's about the principle. No one likes being taken advantage of.
On a typical night out I'll usually hit 2 or 3 bars and probably spend between 150 and 300 baht in total. Like I said, it's fucking cheap here. If you have a bottle of whiskey most bars will allow you to bring it in free of charge and then sell you buckets of ice at 20-30 baht each, and soda water at 10-15 baht a bottle. It's a cheap way to roll that allows you invite others over to your table to share a drink. It's a good ice breaker. If you want to drink beer, it's going to be a little more expensive but not much. Maybe 50-60 baht a bottle in most bars. All of the college bars close at about 1 am, but there are after-hours bars on the same street that stay open to 5am and have better music.
On nights that I don't go out, my expenses are extremely low. Food's cheaper up here than in BKK and I can usually eat healthy on about 100 baht a day. If I just feel like taking it easy I usually call up one of my girls and we throw a movie in.
If you're thinking about living in provincial Thailand, then you're definitely going to have to learn to speak some Thai. In BKK you can get by without knowing a single word, but here you have to adapt. A lot of the educated younger generation can speak at least some English but are usually too shy to try, so a few words in Thai go a long way to break the ice. I've had two lays where I've spoken more Thai than she did English. It's not super hard to learn basic communication points but if you want to be really good at it, then you're going to have to develop an ear for the tones. I'm still struggling with that.
If you want to avoid getting ripped off left and right at bars and restaurants, you have to learn to read too (this is basic traveller's knowledge). It took me about 3 months to get to the point where I could read pretty much anything but I'm a visual learner so I tend to pick up new scripts pretty fast. Even now, after they've just witnessed me order from a Thai-only menu, the bill will sometimes come back with another 30 or 40 baht tacked on. I don't know if they can't get it through their heads that I can read or if they just think the rich foreigner's going to just hand them money without looking at the bill. It's not about the $1 extra or so, it's about the principle. No one likes being taken advantage of.
On a typical night out I'll usually hit 2 or 3 bars and probably spend between 150 and 300 baht in total. Like I said, it's fucking cheap here. If you have a bottle of whiskey most bars will allow you to bring it in free of charge and then sell you buckets of ice at 20-30 baht each, and soda water at 10-15 baht a bottle. It's a cheap way to roll that allows you invite others over to your table to share a drink. It's a good ice breaker. If you want to drink beer, it's going to be a little more expensive but not much. Maybe 50-60 baht a bottle in most bars. All of the college bars close at about 1 am, but there are after-hours bars on the same street that stay open to 5am and have better music.
On nights that I don't go out, my expenses are extremely low. Food's cheaper up here than in BKK and I can usually eat healthy on about 100 baht a day. If I just feel like taking it easy I usually call up one of my girls and we throw a movie in.